A weatherstrip assembly for sealing window panes of a motor vehicle reads from DE 34 26 355 A1. This known weatherstrip assembly comprises a weatherstrip co-extruded of several elastically deformable materials and which is secured to a body flange of the motor vehicle. At an outer surface area the weatherstrip is positively connected to a cover strip. For this purpose the cover strip features a protuberance engaging a slot in the weatherstrip. Experience has shown that the drawback of this known weatherstrip assembly is that a relatively high force is needed to urge the protuberance into the slot.
Disclosed furthermore in DE 1 97 36 899 C2 is a weatherstrip assembly comprising an elastomer weatherstrip for sealing a window pane of a motor vehicle. The weatherstrip is positively connected to a trim strip which for this purpose is provided with a retaining section in the form of a protuberance. When securing the weatherstrip to a body flange of the motor vehicle the retaining section is enclosed by a retaining segment pivotably configured on the weatherstrip. Although an effective positive connection between trim strip and weatherstrip is achieved by the pivotable arrangement of the retaining segment without necessitating a relatively high fitting force, the drawback in this weatherstrip assembly is the relatively bulky profile configuration of the trim strip. The reason for this is the retaining segment sticking out nearly orthogonally from the trim strip.
A weatherstrip provided with a trim strip reads further from DT 2 018 864 A. This weatherstrip is provided with two retaining ribs facing outwardly, each of which forms an insertion groove. These insertion grooves serve to receive edges of the trim strip bending more than 90° which positively connects the trim strip to the weatherstrip.
Known in addition from DE 697 03 241 T2 is a weatherstrip for the cavity in the door of a motor vehicle featuring a trim strip at an outer surface area. At an upper end this trim strip engages a recess in the weatherstrip whilst at a lower end it contacts a widened end section of the weatherstrip.
The invention is based on the objective of improving a weatherstrip assembly of the aforementioned kind such that for a relatively low fitting force a low-profile configuration of the trim strip with satisfactory fastening of the trim strip to the weatherstrip is now achievable.
A weatherstrip assembly having the features as cited at the outset in accordance with the invention has a trim strip provided at one end with a first hook section and at the other end with a second hook section. The second hook section is in positive contact with the retaining segment, whereas the first hook section latches to a first contact surface area of the fastener section. The retaining segment can be pivoted from the first position into the second position to counteract the effect of a restoring force when latching the first hook section to the first contact surface area.
The weatherstrip assembly in accordance with the invention is the result of having discovered it now being possible to achieve a simple and reliable fastening of the trim strip to the weatherstrip by the retaining segment being elastically deformable in overcoming the effect of a restoring force. The retaining segment for pivoting from the first position into the second position when fitting the trim strip ensures latching of the first hook section to the first contact surface area requiring no high fitting force. Due to the restoring force inherent to the retaining segment the retaining segment returns to the first position in the latched condition of the first hook section in thus ensuring an effective positive connection between the hook sections of the trim strip and the weatherstrip. At the same time, a non-positive connection of trim strip and weatherstrip materializes which contributes towards compensating fabrication tolerances. The hook sections producing a relatively high withdrawal force permit in addition a low-profile configuration of the trim strip, for the retaining sections as sticking out from the trim strip in prior art are now eliminated by the hook sections.
It is of advantage when the fastener section is provided with a recess adjoining the retaining segment. The recess permits pivoting the retaining segment from the first position into the second position so that the retaining segment can be arranged within a practically closed contour of the fastener section, resulting in a compact design.
Preferably, the retaining segment forms a second contact surface area opposite the recess for the trim strip to ensure an effective positive connection. The second contact surface area in this arrangement is configured expediently curved and is preferably formed by a recess in the fastener section. Curving the second contact surface area in this way contributes towards the second hook section snagging the second contact surface area so as to produce a satisfactory positive connection. Forming the second contact surface area by a recess in the fastener section contributes towards arranging the retaining segment within a closed contour of the fitted condition as regards a compact configuration.
It is furthermore of advantage to form the first contact surface area by a recess in the fastener section to render the first contact surface area relatively hard wearing, producing an effective positive connection.
In one preferred embodiment of the weatherstrip assembly in accordance with the invention the fastener section is provided with at least one supporting lip for supporting the trim strip. The supporting lip expediently disposed between the first contact surface area and the second contact surface area produces a tensioning force which urges the hook sections of the trim strip against the first and second contact surface areas. The non-positive connection produced by the restoring force of the retaining segment between the trim strip and weatherstrip is enhanced by the tensioning force so that a relatively high withdrawal force is taken into account. Apart from this, the supporting lip facilitates interlatching of the hook sections of the trim strip and each of the contact surface areas of the weatherstrip since the tensioning force produced by the supporting lip permits a relatively high fabrication tolerance.
Advantageously, the weatherstrip assembly in accordance with the invention includes a body part to which the fastener section is secured, the fastener section preferably having an approximately U-shaped cross-section for mounting on a flange of the body part in ensuring practical fitting.
The fastener section is preferably strengthened by a preferably metallic carrier which ensures adequate rigidity of the fastener section in thus contributing towards a satisfactory fastening.
The trim strip is expediently made of plastics or metal, preferably of aluminum. Particularly configuring the trim strip in aluminum achieves to advantage not only a lightweight configuration, but also a design of enhanced visual appeal.
For facilitated cost-effective fabrication the weatherstrip is preferably extruded from an elastomer, preferably a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM). Fabricating the weatherstrip by extrusion is in keeping with mass production requirements as especially pertinent to automotive production.